Henrikh Mkhitaryan: I am Very Happy in Borussia Dortmund and I Try to Do my Best for the Team

DORTMUND (Armenpress) — Captain of the national football team of Armenia Henrikh Mkhitaryan said during his interview with the official website of Borussia Dortmund FC, that he is happy in the German club and wants to do his best for the team.

“I‘m a part of Borussia Dortmund and I am very happy for that. I try to do my best for the team. I am trying to play the game everybody is waiting from me, and this year I can say that I am a little bit lucky: I score goals and I assist a lot, so I am very happy for that. For the moment everything is good, but not enough. I have to try to keep working to score more, assist more, because if it’s good for me, it’s good for the team, and I can be satisfied after work every day,”

Mkhitaryan also said that they have a new coach in the club: with a new philosophy and a new playing style and they try to do what the coach asks and expects.

“We are very happy that we are doing everything well. Our goal is to fight to be in the first three places of Bundesliga to qualify for the Champions League, because we know that Champions League is better than Europa League, and also in Cup to go as far as possible,” Mkhitaryan said.

German Sportal.de informs that Borussia Dortund intends to prolong Mkhitaryan’s contract till 2019. The salary of the Armenian footballer will reach from current 5,5 million euro to 7,5 million euro.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan was born on 22 January 1989 in the Armenian capital Yerevan to Marina Taschyan and Hamlet Mkhitaryan, a prominent striker of FC Ararat Yerevan during the 1980s, who died of a brain tumor at age of 33 when Mkhitaryan was seven years old.

His mother is the head of the national teams department in the Armenian Football Federation and his elder sister, Monica, works at UEFA’s headquarters. Mkhitaryan plays as a midfielder for German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Armenia national football team.

Mkhitaryan is Armenia’s all-time top goalscorer, scoring 16 goals in 52 international matches since his debut in January 2007. His previous clubs include Pyunik Yerevan, where he came through the youth system, Metalurh Donetsk, and Shakhtar Donetsk.Mkhitaryan has been chosen Armenian Footballer of the Year five times (every year since 2009, except 2010).

In 2012 he was voted as the best Shakhtar player of 2011–12 season by the fans, and Ukraine Premier League MVP. In 2012, Mkhitaryan was named in UEFA’s Top 100 players by UEFA European Football Yearbook 2012–13. Mkhitaryan was voted the CIS Footballer of the Year for 2012, making him the first Armenian footballer to be named the best player from post-Soviet countries. He received the award again for 2013.

Mkhitaryan received the nickname Heno from his fans in Armenia and has been nicknamed Micki by his Borussia Dortmund fans.